


Victuuri Week 2018

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Tagged Per Chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-12 05:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13540755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Series of ficlets for Victuuri Week 2018Day 1: Legends/Future





	1. Day 1 - Legends/Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future Fic, Kid Fic, Sibling Rivalry

It’s not easy, being the child of legends. Oh, sure, it was fine if you were Akihiko, their oldest son and the heir to all their talent. He looked like Yuuri and had Yuuri’s work ethic with Viktor’s charm and unflappable cheer, so of course everyone loved him best. Yukiko inherited talent, too, but she didn’t like the ice. She became the protégé Minako had once thought Yuuri would be, and pursued ballet with a single-minded devotion everyone admired. Valya, the youngest child, wasn’t talented athletically, but she was basically a female Viktor in looks, with Yuuri’s innocent adorable air and hidden dominant side that made everyone respect her. She was still in school, but she was already an activist, and everyone expected her to do great things.

Then there was him. Konstantin was the third child of the four, and it seemed like he got none of his parents’ good points. He had Yuuri’s tendency to gain weight and anxiety, Viktor’s airheadedness, and he somehow ended up with boring looks. Because of his parents and his siblings, everyone just expected him to be something amazing, and he wasn’t. Viktor and Yuuri both swore they loved him just as much as his sparkling siblings, but why would they? They really should just admit that he was the family disappointment. He couldn’t even use his biological mother as an excuse – his aunt Sasha was an Olympic medal-winning gymnast and every bit as attractive as Viktor.

After graduating high school, Konstantin wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He’d been accepted to university, but wasn’t sure he could do it; all he wanted in life was to do something useful. Something he wouldn’t be a complete failure at. Something where people would ignore the fact that he was such a boring person compared to the rest of his family.

Yuuri was by far the easiest of his parents to talk to about things like this. Kostya didn’t see how, but Yuuri understood what it felt like to be constantly in someone’s shadow. Yuuri listened while Kostya explained his fears and his doubts about his future, and he had some good advice. “I used to feel like that, too. When I left for college in America, there were two reasons I could make myself get on the plane: it was the only way to get to Viktor, and I knew that if I failed, I could come home and work at Yu-Topia. One or the other wasn’t enough for me. You know your aunt Mari loves you and loves having you come help at the inn during your school breaks, you love the inn even more than I did, so there you go. If chasing a dream doesn’t work out, you have somewhere to go back to.”

“I don’t really have a dream I’m chasing, though. I don’t know what I want to do.”

Viktor dropped on the sofa beside him, one arm around him. “Do you even want to go to university, Kostya?”

“Everyone else did, or is, or will… I don’t want to be the family disappointment again. And… I kind of promised Danila I’d go with her…” Kostya blushed at the admission. Danila was his best friend, practically family since her papa Yuri was like his parents’ little brother. Like him, she felt out of place in her family, but unlike him, she had a drive. She was going to be a veterinarian. Kostya had never admitted it to anyone, but he wished he could be something special. For her.

“There you go then. There’s your dream, at least for now… going to school with Danila. Isn’t she going to America?” Yuuri said.

“Canada. Toronto. Uncle Yuri is not happy about her going to be with Andres.” Neither was Kostya, really. Andres was so much like his father, everything Kostya wasn’t. Confident, outgoing, smart, talented…

“That’s good. Canadian universities, you’re encouraged to explore options and find what you want to study your first year, you’re not committed to a track right away. Go for a year, hang out with Danila and Andres, make new friends, see if you find something that works for you. Then you can reevaluate things, and if you decide that university’s not for you, that’s okay too. No matter what, we love you and we are proud of you.”


	2. Day 2 - Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tags: anxiety, unhealthy coping mechanisms, healthy coping mechanisms, learning from mistakes

It didn’t take long for Yuuri to learn that with Viktor, there were two types of promises. There were the ones he held sacred and would change his entire life to keep, and there were the type that he would say and then forget ten minutes later.

Most of the time, it didn’t bother Yuuri. If Viktor promised to do the dishes but forgot because he got busy watching their students’ skating, all it took was a quick “Hey, Vitya, you promised to do the dishes” and he’d be up and doing the dishes. If Viktor promised to pick up some groceries and got distracted and forgot, they could afford delivery or a nice meal out together. The promises he forgot, it could be annoying and frustrating, but Yuuri loved his husband even with the flaws.

He hadn’t been there the day Viktor brought a bedraggled poodle puppy in out of the rain, but he couldn’t blame Yakov for being skeptical when teenage airhead Viktor promised that he would take complete responsibility for Makkachin and she would be the best-cared-for dog in Russia. For seventeen years Viktor kept that promise, and the only reason he stopped was that Makkachin died of old age.

His coaching career might not have begun well, keeping a promise he never actually made that Yuuri didn’t even remember and almost breaking a promise that he had made that Yuri tracked him to Japan to collect on. Once he realized he enjoyed coaching enough to make it a serious career, beyond just coaching his boyfriend/husband, he took the promises he made to his students just as seriously as he’d taken his promise to Yakov about Makkachin. He didn’t promise them gold medals or international competition selection or even national recognition. There was too much that was up to fate to make those promises. What he promised was that he would teach them the skills they needed to earn those things, and give them whatever support he could along the way. Many of his students did go on to win medals and trips to the Grand Prix Finals and Olympics, but not all, due to injuries or other circumstances. Very few of his students ever complained that he wasn’t keeping his promise to them.

The most important promise Viktor ever made, though, was the one he made when he and Yuuri stood in front of their family and friends. His few friends who knew Viktor well, like Chris and Yuri, never questioned it, but a lot of his school friends and even some of his skating friends questioned why Yuuri would trust Viktor. After all, Viktor had quite the reputation in the days before the Sochi banquet; what made Yuuri think he’d give all that up to tie himself to the self-described dime-a-dozen skater from nowhere? In the early days, after the unintentional proposal, Yuuri asked himself the same question a million times.

After their respective Nationals, when Yuuri moved in with Viktor, he woke up crying in the middle of the night after a dream of Viktor cheating on him. He’d tried to keep it quiet and not wake Viktor, but then he saw Viktor’s blue eyes staring at him in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it was… it was just a nightmare. We were married, and you got bored and…”

Viktor cut him off with a finger to his lips. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’m going to make some tea. You and I are long overdue for a talk, and the sooner we do it, the sooner you can never have those nightmares again. We never have another miscommunication like we did in Barcelona again.”

They talked for hours, and by the end of it, Yuuri understood. Viktor had looked like the perfect playboy prince enjoying his flavor-of-the-week lifestyle and no-strings-attached flings, but it was all a show he was putting on for the media. He’d lost himself in it – and then Yuuri came into his life. It should have been so easy for Viktor to dismiss that as a wild night of fun and shallow promises he could forget, like many others he’d had before, but he couldn’t. That night, he saw a future with Yuuri, and he couldn’t play his role like he’d done for so long. Coming out to Hasetsu, getting away from the constant need to perform for the media… “That day on the beach, when you told me that all you wanted from me was for me to be myself, I was terrified. It had been so long that I wasn’t sure I knew who that was anymore. Now I know. I like the answer I found, and I love you for giving me the space and the freedom to discover that. I’m still working on how to handle your anxiety, so I will try not to take it personally when you have doubts, but I hope that eventually those will go away.”

They had. Life and love with Viktor wasn’t what Yuuri had dreamt of all those years of chasing him. It was so much better.


	3. Day 3 - Longing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-Canon, Viktor's depression, Viktor needs all the hugs

Yakov thought he’d lost his mind when he heard Viktor’s music for the free skate, but he’d long ago given up trying to tell Viktor not to do something when he got this look in his eyes. When he saw the choreography, Yakov just shook his head. “Well, you’ll be surprising people, all right. Who are you skating this program for?”

Viktor shrugged and grinned. “It’s for the audience! Who do you think I am, Georgi? Is he seriously skating a program about Anya breaking up with him?”

“Yes. He’s just as stubborn as you, too. At least Yuri still listens to me.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts, before long he’ll be ridiculous and stubborn about his programs too!” Viktor winked and skated back out to work on some spins.

He’d sort of – not lied, exactly – but omitted a great deal from his explanation to Yakov. There was more to this program than just putting on a show. He couldn’t explain it, even to himself, but he’d been thinking about doing something like this for years, and the time felt right now. This program was for someone in particular. Viktor just didn’t know who it was yet that he was begging to stay close to him.

 

His program mocked him at the Grand Prix Finals. “Stay Close to Me?” Was he skating this for Yakov, the one person in his life who’d always been there? Chris, now that Chris was starting to think about maybe having a serious relationship – with someone else? Makkachin? He’d had nightmares all night about losing her, and she was twelve years old, in a breed that typically lived twelve to fourteen. When she went on to her next destination, Viktor was going to be devastated. It was a good program, a strong base value with impressive and difficult choreography, one that only he could skate – but he’d had a sense all season that there was something missing.

 

Yakov had not been impressed with him at Nationals. His short program was fine, but his free skate had been something of a disaster. Of course, a Viktor Nikiforov disaster was still a gold medal winning program, but that wasn’t the point. Somehow, now that Viktor had found the missing piece to his program, it was falling apart. Viktor couldn’t explain it. It should be easier now that he knew who he was skating for, shouldn’t it? He was skating for Katsuki Yuuri.

 

Europeans went better, at least – over a month of silence from Yuuri had Viktor confused and hurt and reaching out again. He’d even tried calling Celestino and asking for help, only to find that Yuuri had broken things off with him and as far as Celestino knew wasn’t skating at all at the moment. Yuuri wasn’t retiring, was he? Celestino didn’t know. He didn’t think so; he thought Yuuri’s pride might bring him back for one last attempt, but apparently he’d lost the dream that propelled him since he was just a boy.

 

By Worlds, Viktor was numb. Technically, his skate was flawless. Performance… it was a good thing Viktor had been an actor for so long, so that he could fake something for the audience, because he wasn’t feeling it anymore. He wasn’t feeling anything. He wore his plastic smile for the cameras as he held up the gold medal – five-time World Champion. There was a time when that would have meant something to him. Now… nothing.

 

He’d started messing around with programs for next season – what else could he do? If Yuuri was serious about the coaching request, surely he’d have reached out by now. He was having trouble, though; he couldn’t decide. He’d gone home after another day of beating his head against the wall of agape and eros, and no closer to a solution.

He scrolled through his notifications. Lots from Chris, Mila, even Yurio… but one from Phichit Chulanont caught his attention. “I stole this number from Yuuri right before he deleted it. I hope you really are Viktor, because if you’re not, then I’m out of ideas. Look, asshat. Watch this video. If you’re half the man he thought you were, you’ll do something about it.”

Yuuri had deleted his number. That certainly explained why he hadn’t called. Viktor’s last hope, that Yuuri had just been waiting until after the season, vanished. He had no idea what video Phichit wanted him to watch or what he was supposed to do about it, but this curiosity was the most he’d felt in weeks, so he might as well watch.

He didn’t quite get it at first. Yuuri skating. It looked like he’d put on some weight, which certainly lent credence to the idea that he was retired. There was no music, but Viktor didn’t need it. He recognized the choreography immediately. Yuuri’s jumps weren’t as good, and he tripled where Viktor had done a quad flip and did a quad Salchow where Viktor had done a quad Lutz, but Viktor didn’t care.

He understood now. Stammi Vicino had been for Yuuri, but not the way Viktor had believed. Viktor wasn’t skating it for Yuuri. He was skating it for Yuuri to watch, and learn, and skate for him. This was Yuuri _finally_ reaching out, reminding him of the invitation and asking him to come. The more Viktor watched it, the more he felt inspiration coming back to him.


	4. Day 4 - Free Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri and Viktor have a very weird morning.

Yuuri opened his eyes, closed them, and reopened them. He rubbed them just to be sure. Viktor Nikiforov was in his bedroom, sitting on his bed. That had been the weight that jolted the mattress enough to wake Yuuri up. And Yuuri had picked the poodle pajamas the night before.

Viktor reached out and brushed Yuuri’s hair out of his face. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Your mom said to come get you up for breakfast.”

“V-viktor? What are you doing here? Why…” Yuuri looked down at himself and realized that something had gone horribly wrong, because while the poodle pajamas had been embarrassing, his current outfit was even worse. As in, he didn’t have one. He was naked, and Viktor Nikiforov was sitting on his bed smiling at him like he liked what he was seeing. He grabbed his blanket and pulled it over him.

Viktor just laughed and bent down to kiss his forehead. “What’s wrong, Yuuri? You’re acting like I’ve never woken you up before!”

“You… haven’t?” Yuuri offered weakly. “You’re… what are you even doing in Hasetsu?”

Viktor tilted his head. “I’m living here? With you, and your family until our house is finished? Yuuri, what is wrong?”

“Our” house, did Viktor just say? As in Yuuri had a house with Viktor Nikiforov, where they would be living together? Sharing space? Maybe even sharing a bathroom… and Yuuri, suddenly remembering his state of dress, decided not to go down that route. “This doesn’t make any sense. You live in Russia! Why would you want to come here?”

Viktor reached out and took Yuuri’s right hand, tangling their fingers together. Yuuri gasped as he saw the rings they both wore. “The first time, I came here chasing a dream. This time, I came here to live one with my husband.”

“Husband?!”

“Yuuri, you’re acting very strangely. Is something wrong?”

“This must be a dream. This has to be a dream. I am dreaming and it’s a great dream except for the part where I know it’s all wrong and just a dream because why would Viktor Nikiforov even…” Yuuri shut up and took a couple deep breaths. “I’m going back to sleep. That should wake me up in the real world, where Mari’s going to come in and tell me to get up for school and you’ll be in Russia getting ready for Worlds.” Yuuri resolutely closed his eyes, ignoring Viktor’s laughter and the fingers brushing through his hair. This wasn’t real.

 

Five minutes later, Viktor shook Yuuri again. “Okay, Yuuri, your mom is not going to be happy if we’re too much later. It’s time to get up.”

Yuuri rubbed his eyes and sat up. “Morning, Vitya.”

“What was with the silliness earlier? You never would tell me what was wrong…”

Yuuri looked at him, and then his eyes went wide. “Holy shit. I always thought… wow.”

“What?”

“When I was sixteen, I had a dream that you came to wake me up for breakfast. I couldn’t figure out why you were acting the way you were, or calling yourself my husband… so I just went back to sleep. When I woke up, Mari was there, yelling at me to get up or I’d be late for school. I’d forgotten all about it, but…” He beamed at Viktor. “It wasn’t a dream. It was a peek at my future. Wow.”


	5. Day 5 - Fantasy/Celebration/Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter solstice celebration

The winter solstice was Viktor’s favorite holiday. He loved the cold, he enjoyed the stars being out forever, and he was quite the fan of the attention he got for it being his birthday. He was showered with attention all day, his friends made him all his favorite foods, he got presents, and the day was just special.

The best part, though, came when the sun had set. Viktor left the party in his honor and headed down to the lake. It was frozen solid this time of year, and he’d been skating earlier in the day, naturally, but this was different.

When he was a young child, his mother had taught him a special dance on the ice that, if performed correctly, would summon the spirit of the ice to dance with him. She had performed it every year until she was too sick to continue, and Viktor took over the tradition.

Last year, the spirit had warned him that it would be his last. “What will happen when I come next year?”

“A new spirit will take my place, one shaped by your heart and your dance. I don’t know what it will be like. You’ll find out.”

Viktor couldn’t help being curious as he skated out onto the ice. He skated as he always had, jumps nice and high, blades flashing in spins and steps. When he stopped, there was a spirit there, just like always. The spirit was very different. The old spirit had been tall, pale, cold-featured – exactly what one would expect from an ice spirit. The new spirit was shorter, darker, and had a warmth about him that Viktor would never had expected.

The spirit held out a hand that shook. “Hello. My name is Yuuri. I hope you’ll accept me as the guardian of this lake.”

“I’m Viktor! You’re accepted.” Viktor took Yuuri’s hand. “Dance with me?”

“Of course.” Yuuri danced with Viktor until sunrise, when he faded back into the lake.


	6. Day 6 - Home

Home, for Viktor, had always been a cold place. Whether that was literal – being out on the ice skating his dreams – or figurative – with his parents in their stately manor, there was always a chill. His parents could barely stand each other. How they’d managed to have him, Viktor had no idea. Maybe, once upon a time, things had been different – but once upon a time was for fairy tales, and Viktor didn’t believe in those.

Yakov tried to make up for it, and it wasn’t long after he started skating for the legendary coach that Viktor came to see him as more of a parent than his actual parents. When something was right, he went to Yakov to celebrate. When something was wrong, he went to Yakov for help. But Yakov was a busy man, with several other skaters to deal with, so Viktor tried to be as independent as possible.

Adopting Makkachin helped. His parents tolerated having a dog around, but Viktor loved her to pieces. A fluffy, cuddly poodle helped warm the chill a little. The day he turned eighteen, he moved out, into an apartment of his own at a convenient distance from the rink. Somehow, it was less lonely than staying home would have been.

There was a string of women and men who came to share Viktor’s bed, but none of them lasted long. It didn’t take long for Viktor to find out that they wanted his fame or his money or his beauty, not his heart, and he was not going to make that mistake. He told his parents to fuck off when they talked to him about arranging a suitable marriage with an acceptable society girl. He was their only son; what were they going to do if he married for love, disown him? They threatened, he called, and they backed down.

And then, one night… there was warmth. There was beauty and joy and possibilities that Viktor had never dreamed of, dancing half-naked on a pole with Viktor’s best friend and drunkenly asking Viktor to be his coach. Somehow, going home to the cold was that much worse. One night, and the small contentment he had was gone. Makkachin did her best, but even the best of dogs could only do so much to help.

Setting foot in Yu-Topia felt warm. Even with the snow outside – from what the owner had said, a very unusual thing for Hasetsu in April – it was warmer than anywhere Viktor had ever been before. Going for a soak in the hot springs while he waited for Yuuri felt like heaven. This was a place Viktor would gladly live the rest of his life, just to enjoy the warmth that he’d never known before.

There were false starts and miscues, but eventually, he and Yuuri figured it out. When Viktor brought Yuuri to his apartment, he was scared. Yuuri was so warm, but his apartment was cold… which would win? Would bringing Yuuri here mean that Yuuri would be like all the others Viktor had brought here, and he would lose the warmth until he couldn’t take it anymore and left? Viktor didn’t believe that; Yuuri was different, Yuuri loved him for who he was. Finally, he thought maybe he understood Yuuri’s anxiety just a little bit.

Three months later, gold and silver medals hanging on the bedposts from Worlds – gold on Yuuri’s side of the bed, Viktor realized that Yuuri had done something miraculous. Far from the cold apartment sapping Yuuri’s warmth, Yuuri had brought the warmth of Yu-Topia, Hasetsu, and himself and infused the apartment with them. Home was no longer cold.


	7. Day 7 - Rest

By the time the Olympics were over, Yuuri was more than ready to obey his coach when his coach said they needed to take a day off. Between the publicity, sponsor meetings, training, competitions, and celebrations, when Viktor suggested they take a week off and do nothing, Yuuri was perfectly happy to agree.

It still felt weird, that first day, when he woke up to find it was ten o’clock. He leapt out of bed, half-convinced that Viktor would be gone and impatiently waiting for him at the rink, only to find Viktor on the couch, Makkachin tucked under his legs, reading a book. Viktor looked up and smiled. “Good morning, sleeping beauty. Did you sleep well?”

“I slept forever! What are we doing today?”

“Other than walking Makkachin, and grocery shopping if we need anything, I wasn’t planning on leaving the apartment. Why, is there something you want to do?”

Yuuri sat on the floor beside the couch, leaning up against Viktor. “Staying here sounds good to me. Yakov won’t give you trouble?”

“Yakov won’t.” Viktor set his book aside and started playing with Yuuri’s hair. “He’s the one who told me that if he saw me at the rink, it better be as a coach only, and he didn’t really want to see that but he wasn’t going to tell me how to coach my skater.”

“Okay. In that case, I’m going to go get a book too.” Yuuri reached up and skritched Makkachin. “Let me know when you’re ready to go out?”


	8. Day 8 - Soulmates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for canon pet death.

When Yuuri was twelve, the words appeared on his chest. They were in English, which was interesting. Photo and sure he understood fine, but he wasn’t too sure about “commemorative”. Google gave him the answer easily enough, and Yuuri spent the rest of the day trying not to freak out too much.

The most likely context for his words was that he’d met someone who was an idol of his and asked for a photo together to remember it. Yuuri wasn’t much of a fanboy. The only person he’d call an idol of his was Viktor Nikiforov. What if his soulmate words meant that Viktor was his soulmate? He’d already made the resolve to work as hard as he could and try to meet Viktor on the ice one day. This strengthened that resolve. He had to meet Viktor.

 

Viktor was sixteen when the words appeared on his chest. “You be the judge!” He had absolutely no idea what that was supposed to mean. Judge of what? A lot of skaters stuck with the ice in some capacity when they retired, but Viktor couldn’t see himself becoming a skating judge, and other than skating, who would trust Viktor’s judgment on _anything_? That had been Yakov’s opinion, at least, but Viktor agreed with it.

 

It was the worst day of Yuuri’s life. First, Yuuri learned that his dog died. Technically that had happened the night before, but it was still relevant. Because he’d been up all night crying and feeling guilty about not going home, he’d struggled with practice and warmups. That had gotten in his head and he’d put forth quite possibly the worst skate ever in the history of the Grand Prix Finals. And then, to top it all off, he’d finally heard the words he’d been waiting for since he was twelve.

Viktor noticed him staring after he’d heard his name, or close enough, when Viktor was talking to his rinkmate. “A commemorative photo? Sure!”

Viktor was his soulmate. Viktor had no idea who he even was. Despite having shared the ice, Viktor thought he was just some fan.

Yuuri could get away with skipping the exhibition easily enough, but Celestino made him go to the banquet. Oh well, that’s what champagne was for, right?

 

The brief encounter with Katsuki Yuuri haunted Viktor. Yuuri was his fan, he was sure of it. He’d noticed Yuuri staring at him, and wanted to say something to cheer him up after his disastrous skate. There wasn’t much good to say about the skate and he wasn’t going to kick Yuuri while he was down, so he treated him as a fan. Yuuri had just walked away.

He couldn’t stop thinking about it as he skated his exhibition. As he got ready for the banquet, he tried to figure out what to say to Yuuri at the banquet. He was not going to leave it at that brief encounter and have Yuuri thinking Viktor was such a self-absorbed jackass he didn’t recognize one of the greatest skaters in the world – which, despite the free skate, Yuuri clearly was.

At the banquet, though, Viktor kept getting interrupted by sponsors, well-wishers, hauling Yuri Plisetsky away from the champagne table, and Chris trying to rope Viktor into some shenanigans. Then he heard Yuuri’s voice over the general din. “Hey! Mini-Yuri! You want me to retire? Beat me in a danceoff!” Yuuri noticed Viktor staring at them and pointed at him. “You be the judge!”

Viktor’s mouth dropped open. This was amazing! His soulmate? Really? He flinched as he realized what that meant about earlier – salt in the wound. There was no way Yuuri was going to lose this. Thankfully, Yuuri was a great dancer, even drunk, so it wasn’t obvious that there was blatant favoritism from the judge.

Once he’d declared the winner, he’d hoped to have a chance to talk to Yuuri, but a whistle from Chris got their attention. “Yuuri! My turn to challenge you! Viktor as judge again!”

Yuuri’s eyes lit up when he saw the pole. “You’re on!”

 

The hangover was expected. The other person in bed with him was not. Yuuri wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Still, he forced his eyes open.

Viktor was there. “Good morning, Yuuri. There’s water on the nightstand. I imagine you’ll want it.”

Yuuri found the water, with a bottle of painkillers beside it. He took some of those. His head was throbbing, and he needed to be able to think. Just what had happened last night that he was in bed with someone who thought so little of him he couldn’t recognize him?

“What do you remember from last night?”

“Celestino forcing me to go to the banquet and discovering the champagne corner. That’s it.”

“Really? Wow. You had a lot of fun last night. I have pictures, if your hangover’s not too bad to deal with the lights.” Viktor fumbled for his phone and loaded up pictures.

At first, it wasn’t too bad. He looked ridiculous, dancing with Yuri Plisetsky. Then he saw the pictures with Chris. “How did…”

“It’s Chris, are you really surprised? He tried to get me to help, but I was trying to find you.”

“Me? What for?”

“To apologize for the other day. And that was before I knew just how bad it really was. I’m sorry, Yuuri. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I recognize that I did.”

“What do you mean, how bad it was?”

Viktor put a hand to his chest, right over his heart. Where his soulmate words would be, Yuuri realized. “To have your soulmate of all people appear to not recognize you…”

“You know? You’re sure?”

“I spent years trying to figure out why anyone would want me to judge anything! It makes sense now.”

“Huh?”

“You asked me to judge the danceoff between you and Yuri Plisetsky. Then you danced with Chris, then me. You asked me to be your coach. I don’t know how I can, unless I retire, but it sounds interesting enough to be worth a try! Although you should probably talk to Celestino if you’re thinking about a coaching change…”

“I’m thinking about retiring. The whole reason I got into skating as seriously as I did was to get the chance to compete against you, and look how that turned out.”

“What happened? How did things get so bad for you? I’ve watched you skate that program so much better.”

“I… I hadn’t seen my dog for five years, since I left for America for school and to work with Celestino. Between school and skating there was never a good chance to go home for a visit. My sister called to tell me Vicchan died.”

“Oh, no!” Viktor hugged Yuuri. “If someone had told me Makkachin died, I probably would have withdrawn!”

“So… what happens now?”

“You have a flight to catch home, I have my own flight, we both have Nationals coming up in a couple weeks. We’ll have to figure out good times to talk around training and time zones, but I bet we can do it!”

Yuuri blinked. “You mean it? You want to talk to me?”

“Of course! You’re surprised? We are soulmates, and we really should figure out what that’s going to mean for us.”


End file.
